The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Box Set

Together for the first time, ESP-Disk’ is proud to present all three volumes of The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra in a gorgeous digipack fold-out box set. Originally released as two volumes in 1966, and with a third volume uncovered in 2005, the landmark sessions recorded by Richard Alderson on April 20th and November 16, 1965 have been hailed as a “...masterpiece of free jazz.” To further delve into The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra and his Arkestra, each enhanced disc in the set contains archival photos, critical writings, and historical videos, including the 18-minute documentary Sun Ra “Spaceways.” (Please note that the download lacks the enhancements.)

"These three Sun Ra albums rank among the most valuable pearls in the ESP-Disk catalog." -Derek Taylor, Dusted"The Arkestra did use improvisation as their main compositional tool, but Ra’s hand can be glimpsed in the restrained use of such strange sound combinations. The Arkestra is certainly exploring, but they are being guided. And where they end up makes for one of Sun Ra’s best recordings." - Matthew Wuethrich, All About Jazz

"[Sun Ra] wished to re-create the roars and the silences of the cosmos. And, in Heliocentric Worlds, he forged an original style intended to do just that." - Adam Shantz, Slate

"In its time, the music of Heliocentric Worlds was truly groundbreaking and influential, not just in the realms of jazz, but in other genres as well. Students of film music will hear some of the ideas that Ra developed cropping up later in some of the science fiction film scores of the late '60s and early '70s, and of course, Ra's outer space explorations inspired the psychedelic era artists to push the boundaries of rock into more free form and experimental directions, giving birth to that thing we call space rock." - Jeff Fitzgerald, Aural Innovations #31